An airborne protest flew over Nike's world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, on Thursday calling for the company to move one of its New York City stores out of a building owned by President Donald Trump. An airplane flew a banner over Beaverton reading "NIKE: STOP PAYING RENT TO RACIST TRUMP" on the same day of the company's 2017 shareholders meeting.
The message was orchestrated by women's advocacy group UltraViolet, which says it wants the brand to end its financial support of President Trump.
"Nike spends obscene amounts of money in advertising each year to brand and align the company with its supposed core mission statement: to bring inspiration and innovation to the world," said UltraViolet co-founder Nita Chaudhary via press release. "However, Nike’s utter disregard for the fact that they are funneling millions of dollars into the pocket of a serial racist, bigot, and misogynist by keeping its flagship NikeTown store in Trump Tower is less than inspiring. If Nike truly intends to stand by its progressive values, they must take immediate action and sever financial ties with Trump."
UltraViolet, which claims Nike is paying over $200 million for the lease at its NikeTown store, has a petition here calling for Nike and Starbucks to move their stores out of Trump-owned buildings in NYC. Over 73,000 people have signed the petition at the time of writing.
There are no indications of Nike relocating the store at the moment.
"Nike is in a multi-year lease agreement for our NikeTown New York location and it does not end for several years," a Nike spokesperson told Sole Collector.
The company has publicly disagreed with several controversial Trump decisions, issuing a statement on his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord and his Muslim ban.
